


Who are you?

by DancingInTheSliverGlow



Series: Febuwhump 2021 [12]
Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians & Related Fandoms - All Media Types, Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Ambrosia (Percy Jackson), Amnesia, Angst, Ants, Based on a Tumblr Post, Camp Half-Blood (Percy Jackson), Danger, Developing Friendships, Emotional Hurt, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Epic Friendship, F/M, FebuWhump2021, Febuwhump, Fighting, Forests, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Gaea - Freeform, Gen, Gorgons (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore), Hellhounds, Hermes-centric, Hunting, Hurt Percy, Hurt Percy Jackson, Hurt/Comfort, I Blame Tumblr, Inspired By Tumblr, Light Angst, Mild Angst, Mild Hurt/Comfort, Military Training, One Shot, PEN, Percy Jackson-Centric, Post-Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Post-The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson), Pre-Gaea & The Second Giant War (Percy Jackson), Pre-The Son of Neptune (Heroes of Olympus), Riptide, Scary Percy Jackson, Smart Percy Jackson, Survival Training, Sword Fighting, Temporary Amnesia, Training, Training Camp, Tumblr, Tumblr Prompt, amnesia Percy Jackson, febuwhump 2021 day 12, febuwhump 2021 day 12 "Who are you?", febuwhump day 12, febuwhump day 12 "Who are you?", fire ants, helpful hermes, mentions of Gaea, motivation, perseus - Freeform, perseus jackson - Freeform, this is a pen, tu - Freeform, who are you, wolf - Freeform, wolf stare
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-12
Packaged: 2021-03-18 18:21:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29373018
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DancingInTheSliverGlow/pseuds/DancingInTheSliverGlow
Summary: He wakes up in a forest. He’s on his back lying on the dirt, looking up at the green canopy above him. He doesn't know how he got here. He stands up and looks around.Suddenly, there's a sound, startling him.He jumps and spins around. In front of him is a... man. At least, he looks like a man. He’s wearing black jogging shorts, and a green loose shirt.Something flickers in the back of his mind, but he can’t quite grasp it. The man in front of him, who had definitely not been there a moment ago, seems eerily familiar, but he can’t remember where he’s seen him.Actually he can’t remember anything, at all....After the Last Olympian and before the Son of Neptune, Percy encounters Hermes a couple times in his amnesiac state.
Relationships: Annabeth Chase/Percy Jackson, Hermes & Percy Jackson, Percy Jackson & Lupa
Series: Febuwhump 2021 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2137995
Comments: 13
Kudos: 81
Collections: febuwhump 2021





	Who are you?

He wakes up in a forest. He’s on his back lying on the dirt, looking up at the green canopy above him. It’s beautiful, the sun shines through the tree leaves just right that it creates a sun ray that touches the ground a few metres off to his left. The birds are singing and happily chirping away in the air. There’s a rustle in the leaves over to his left, so he moves his head and just manages to get a glimpse of a squirrel hopping branch to branch; it’s fluffy grey tail swishing away at it leaps; a large walnut in between it’s teeth. 

Suddenly, there’s a sharp stinging sensation at the back of his neck. On pure instinct, he raises his arm and tilts his neck up, just enough to give his hand enough space to slap whatever bit him. He pulls his hand away, and looks at it. In the center of his palm, is a small red ant. Something deep inside him whispers _danger_ and _pain,_ so he leaps to his feet.

There’s a nest full of red ants moving around a few metres away from where his head was. A sudden relief washes over him, but he’s not quite sure why. Was he in danger? Considering the pain the one ant bite brought him, it’s possible. 

A voice suddenly speaks up. “Those might be small, but they’re surprisingly lethal for their size. It would be wise of you to steer clear of them.”

He jumps and spins around. In front of him is a... man. At least, _he_ looks like a man. _He’s_ wearing black jogging shorts, and a green loose shirt.

Something flickers in the back of his mind, but he can’t quite grasp it. The man in front of him, who had definitely not been there a moment ago, seems eerily familiar, but he can’t remember where he’s seen him.

Actually he can’t remember anything, at all.

“Who are you? Do I know you?” He asks, suspicious.

The man frowns. “... I suppose you do. We’re friends, of a sort. Do you remember anything?”

He frowns and concentrates. He remembers general knowledge - the names of animals, trees and concepts, but he doesn’t remember anything personal, anything about himself. He tries to recall anything, a name, a place, a face - nothing. He shakes his head. “No, I don’t remember anything. Do you know who I am?”

The man looks surprised, and a bit annoyed. _He_ curses in a language that he can’t quite grasp - the man says it too fast. “Your name is Perseus.”

“Perseus.” Perseus rolls the name over his tongue. Something tells Perseus that the man isn’t lying - Perseus is his name. But at the same time, it seems too… formal. It doesn’t sit right on his tongue. “Perseus, Perse- Percy?” Somehow, that feels much more familiar.

The man laughs. “Yes, you rarely used your birth name. To everyone you knew, you were Percy.”

Percy nods. He has so many questions - how did he get here, to the forest, why can’t he remember anything, who exactly is the man in front of him. Percy doesn’t know where to start.

The man senses Percy’s onslaught of questions and holds up a hand, pausing Percy. “I don’t think I can answer your questions. At least, not all of them.”

“Why not?”

“Some very powerful go-people made me promise not to.” The man looks pained. “I didn’t want to - you don’t deserve this. Not after everything you did for us.”

Percy doesn’t know what to think of that. There’s too much missing - too much he doesn’t know. “Will I ever get my memories back?”

The man exhales, shakily. “I- I think so. I hope so. The - the people who did this to you, there’s something that s- that they want you to do. And if you survive and complete it, sh- they’ll give you your memories back.”

Percy doesn’t comment on the man’s accidental slips. _She. People._ There’s a weird emphasis the man is putting on the word, as if the _people_ he’s referring to aren’t actually people. 

There’s also the other alarming thing the man said. _If you survive._ Percy thinks that he should be alarmed, but somehow he isn’t. He just feels a faint sense of annoyment. Percy wonders if this is his normal, _not-people_ manipulating his life and sending him into situations where _he might not survive_ on a regular basis. 

In the distance, there’s a growl. Percy turns toward the sound, alarmed. He estimates that the sound is coming from 50, maybe 70 metre away at best. “What was that?!”

The man curses in that strange language again. “I can’t interfere. Percy -”

“Wait!” Percy stops the man, who looks like he’s about to leave. The growls are getting closer. “You can’t just leave me here with - with-”

“You have your pen, right? In your right hand?” The man says suddenly, staring at Percy intensely.

Percy looks down. To his surprise, his hand is in his pants pocket. He clenches his fist and feels something slim and metallic in his hand. Faintly, he remembers sticking his hand in his pocket when he heard the growl. Percy pulls the pen out of his pocket. “How is this going to help me with whatever that is?”

“Uncap it.”

Percy stares at the man. Is he serious? There’s a _beast_ heading in his direction, snarling like he wants to eat Percy for breakfast, lunch and dinner and the man wants him to uncap a pen? “This is a pen.” Percy says, but nonetheless he uncaps it and-

-and before his eyes it transforms into a sword. Percy moves the sword around, fascinated. “Wow…”

The man looks stressed. “Use the sword. It’s yours. You need to go further into the forest. Look for Lupa and her wolves. She’ll help you.” 

The growls get even closer; 30 metres, 20 metres. Percy can almost hear the beast thrashing in the undergrowth as it approaches. Adrenaline fills his veins, and he feels, not exactly light, but prepared to move, fast. He nods to the man. 

The man nods back. “Good luck, Percy,” and then disappears between one blink and the next. 

Percy considers running, but something inside him tells him that there’s no use. The beast is too close. Instead, Percy widens his stance, raises his sword and prepares himself for a fight. 

… 

Percy doesn’t see the man again for many months. He defeats the beast, who he later learns was a hellhound. He finds Lupa, who teaches him how to fight and how to hone his senses and his powers. Then, she sends him away telling him to listen to his inner homing radar. At first, it had sounded like bullshit, but then Percy had begun to pick up on something. A gentle… _sense_ trying to direct him south. 

He also remembers a name. Not his own, a girl’s name. _Annabeth._ Percy doesn’t know who she is, but he instinctively knows that she’s important to him. He rolls the name on his tongue and it feels familiar, like home, like family. His best friend? Or maybe his girlfriend? He thinks of her, and gets the faint memory of San Francisco. 

Lupa eventually declares that he learned everything he could from her, and she tells him to follow his homing radar. It directs Percy south, out of the forests, along highways and across farms. On his journey, Percy sees other people. They take one look at him and seem to disappear. 

One day, Percy catches the reflection of himself in a store window and he realizes why. His shit is badly damaged. There was once something written on the front, a logo perhaps, but it’s long gone, destroyed by wear and tear. There’s holes and dirt all over the shirt, from Percy’s battles with monsters. His black pants haven’t fared much better either. His face though… Percy stares at himself in the mirror and doesn’t recognize himself. The man in the mirror has perfected the wolf stare, it's intimidating and gives off a scary aura. Percy’s face is slightly dirty - not in a disgusting way, but in the way that screams experienced fighter. 

Percy wouldn’t mess with himself. He doesn’t blame the other people for keeping a distance.

But at the same time, he looks at them and wonders. Was anyone looking for him? The girl, Annabeth. Was she searching for him? Did anyone notice he was gone? Did anyone care?

It’s noon and the sun is shining brightly. Percy finishes jogging out of the town - really, calling it a town is generous; the entire town is three streets big - and finds a nice hill on the outskirts overlooking the town.

Percy sits down, and pulls out his food. Lupa had taught him how to hunt and gather berries, but all Percy had were berries. Two gorgons were hunting him - they didn’t leave much time for Percy to gather food.

Well that wasn’t exactly true. Lupa had given Percy a few square blocks of golden something. She told him it was only to be eaten when he was injured or tired.

Well, Percy was tired and hungry. He opened one of the square packets and pulled out a golden cube. It was slightly squashed from being in Percy’s pocket, but it still shone in the sun. Percy hesitantly plopped one in his mouth. 

Instantly he felt refreshed, like the cube had powered him his limbs. Percy stares at the other cubes for a moment, wondering what they are. A faint memory at the back of his mind flickers, but it escapes his grasp. Percy sighs and tucks the rest of the cubes back into his pocket. 

When he looks back up, the man he spoke to many months before is standing there. He smiles and waves at Percy. 

“Mind if I join you?”

Percy nods, maybe a little too fast. But can blame him, besides Lupa and her wolves, Percy has been alone. Even though he doesn’t remember any of his friends and family, he still misses them, something fierce. At least, he thinks it's his friends and family he’s missing. There’s something… empty and hurting inside him. It’s calling out for things that Percy can’t hear and can’t understand, presumably because of his amnesia. 

The man reaches Percy and sits down next to him. He places both hands behind him on the grass, and looks up at the sky. “It’s peaceful here. You chose a nice spot.”

Percy shrugs. “It was a tactical decision. There these two… snake ladies trying to kill me. I don’t want to be caught off guard.”

The man laughs. “Considering - who you are, I’m surprised that you haven’t killed them already.”

Percy frowns. “I have. I’ve stabbed them with Riptide, and they explode into this weird golden dust. But they keep coming back.”

The man sits up and looks at Percy. “That’s not good. Not this fast. You - there was supposed to be more time.” 

Percy studies him, and comes to a conclusion. “Is the fact that the snake ladies keep coming back related to whatever the people who took my memories want me to do?” 

The man gives him a wiry smile. “You catch on fast, Percy. E-People tend to underestimate you.” 

The man stays silent for a moment, before clapping Percy on the back. It's the only friendly touch Percy has felt since he woke up in the forest, and Percy struggles not to lean into it. 

The man stands up, and Percy follows. “Your snake friends will be there in a few minutes.”

Percy swears and pulls out Riptide. 

“I can’t be here when they arrive - I can’t interfere, but I can tell you that the place where you’re heading? It’s not far. Hang on in there, Percy. You’re almost there.” With a final nod, the man disappears, and Percy suddenly feels remarkably alone. 

He’s been lonely since the man left him before when the hellhound had tracked him. Lupa and her wolves had eased that, slightly but it wasn’t the same. They weren’t humanoid. Aside from Lupa, they weren’t capable of speech, of conversation. 

Percy hears the snake ladies start hissing. He looks over, and sees them approaching the base of the hill. Not for the first time, Percy pushes his emotions aside and readies Riptide. 

He has a fight to win, and family to get back to. 

The End.

**Author's Note:**

> I have at least two more Percy Jackson fanfics to publish for febuwhump, so if you want to read more stay tuned! Or maybe just subscribe to the series 😃  
> I hope everyone's staying safe and healthy during these troubling times.  
> Come say hi on [my tumblr :)](https://art-in-the-sunlight.tumblr.com)  
> If you enjoyed, consider leaving a kudos and comment?  
>   
> Emoji Key for those who don't know what to say!  
> ❤ = you wish you could kudos again  
> 👍 = you enjoyed reading it  
> 💕 = Percy & Hermes's friendship is so sweet and MASSIVELY disregarded by the fandom. You stan their platonic ship  
> 💚 = you didn't initially come here for Percy & Hermes but your starting to enjoy it!


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